A Man With My Brother's Face
by Teglan
Summary: The Loki that Thor took back to Asgard was a decoy, and the real one is loose somewhere on Midgard. Surprisingly, S.H.I.E.L.D.s facial recognition software finds a match once again, but this Loki... isn't Loki either? Thor has a chat about siblings with a man who wears his brothers face. Two-shot. Rated for one dropping of the F-bomb.
1. Pulling a Loki

Pulling a Loki

4/19/13

* * *

"What the hell do you mean, you lost him!?" Fury yelled, a vein bulging on his neck.

Thor looked down at his shoes in shame. It was a few weeks after the New York Incident, and things weren't even close to being "back to normal" yet. Thor had returned via the Bifrost - newly repaired with data gathered from the similarly functioning Tesseract - with the shocking news that Loki, or what was believed to be Loki, had disappeared in a puff of smoke upon entering the gates of Asgard.

The Helicarrier had been repaired quickly after it's near-fatal encounter with Loki's henchmen and, subsequently, the Hulk. The engine destroyed by Hawk Eye's exploding arrow and, just for safety, the one that Iron Man had kick-started were replaced, and the whole craft floated steadily in the air.

Tony, Bruce, and Steve had been on the Helicarrier talking with Fury about rebuilding and restoring buildings that had been damaged in the attack when Thor had appeared with a crack of thunder. Clint and Natasha were away on a mission, something about crime lords in Brazil.

"My brother must have discovered how to create solid illusions," Thor explained. "He must have... switched at some point."

Fury cursed, then turned and started giving orders through his headset.

"Gaawd," Tony whined, throwing an arm around Bruce's shoulders, seemingly just to make him uncomfortable, "Doesn't that guy ever take a break?"

"When could he have done it? His illusions can't take a punch, right, Thor? They disappear?" Asked Steve.

"Aye."

"I mean, I was going to go to Malibu. Now, I can't. _Thank you_, Psycho Reindeer God!"

"Stark, would you _please_-"

"The crater," Bruce said suddenly, cutting Fury off.

"Elaborate," Thor demanded.

"After the Other Guy bashed Loki around, he left him in a crater, which is where we found him... _hours_ later," Bruce clarified.

"That would have been the perfect opportunity for him to get away," Tony realized. "Which he _did_, but he also left us a decoy to...to what? Crack a joke and stall for time?"

"It is likely," Thor replied gravely.

"We could use the facial recognition software we used last time," Steve suggested.

"A step ahead of you," Fury responded, "But do you really think we're going to find anything? The only reason we located him last time was because he wanted to be found. He's not stupid enough to-"

"Sir, we've found him!" A voice came through Fury's headset loud enough for everyone to hear.

"_What!_?"

"Really?"

"Where?"

The voice was quiet when it responded, so only Fury could hear it.

"Why the_ hell_ would he be at a diner in the Bronx!?" Fury spat. "You've got the wrong guy!"

Silence.

"Fine," he snatched off the headset. "Agent Peters says it's a 84-percent match. Anything that high, we gotta check out. Normally, I'd send an agent to check it out, but this is Loki we're talking about. Thor, Rogers, Stark, you go and see what's up. Take a quinjet, and report back anything you find, immediately. Dr. Banner, you're on backup. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"So be it."

"Whatever."

* * *

Tony landed the quinjet in a vacant parking lot near the diner. Once there, Thor addressed them.

"Friends, I would like to confront my brother alone."

"Yeah, 'cuz that worked _so well_ the first time," Tony snarked. "We're in this together, Goldilocks. Not gonna happen."

"He's right, Thor," agreed Steve, ignoring Tony shout of 'Stop the presses! I was right!' in the background. "Loki's too dangerous for us to lose the element of surprise."

"You think there is no hope for my brother," Thor stated sadly.

Steve and Thor exchanged glances.

"You have not known Loki as I have," Thor pleaded. "I have known him for a thousand years and more. You see him only now, at his worst, but I have seen him at his best. I have seen him kind, caring, playful, sentimental. I have seen him avert war with a few well-placed words, and save my life with less. I have seen him as a cunning strategist and a skilled fighter. Loki _can_ be saved."

There was silence as Thor's words sunk in.

Steve pursed his lips, "We can't just let you go in alone."

"How about a compromise?" Tony suggested. "We all go in, but nobody shoots and/or attacks Loki until you've tried your 'convincing' strategy, okay?"

Thor nodded.

Steve hesitated, then sighed, "Fine."

"Thank you, my friends," said Thor, setting one hand on each of their shoulders, "It gives me great comfort to know that even if this ends in bloodshed, you trusted me, and believed in Loki, enough to give us this chance."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Tony reminded, breaking away from Thor's baseball mitt of a hand to open the hanger, "This might not even be Loki, you know."

"Yeah, why would he be hanging out in an old diner?" Steve asked as they crossed the street to said diner, eliciting stares and points from the scant population.

"Well, let's find out!" Tony declared as he shoved the doors open.

Thor stepped in, and his eyes immediately locked onto a familiar face.

"Loki!"


	2. There's Always a Chance

There's Always a Chance...

4/20/13

* * *

"Loki!"

The thin man rose from where he was bent over, whipping away the remnants of ketchup and mayonnaise that always seems to end up on restaurant tables. His eyebrows shot toward his hairline as he observed the odd assortment of people, one of which was screaming at him.

"Um... How many?" He asked weakly.

"Brother, do you pretend not to recognize me?" Thor asked, "Please, just come home!"

"I- no," Loki replied, slipping behind the front counter and reaching for the phone, "I think I'd know if I had a brother from Australia, and I'm not going anywhere with you."

"'Australia'?" Thor questioned, "What do you mean?"

"It's the accent," Tony muttered.

"I have no accent, friend Stark!"

"Sir," Loki said firmly, holding the phone up, "I don't want to have to call the police. Please, just leave."

"Seriously, Loki?" Steve said, gesturing to the man's short brown hair, "Did you really think that you could change your hair and act like you weren't you anymore, and we'd buy that?"

"I don't know who you're talking about. My name is Tom."

Thor looked closely at him.

A moment passed in silence.

Finally, Thor sighed, "He is right, my friends. This man may have my brother's face, but he does not have his eyes, nor his heart."

"Really? You're buying this? Isn't this guy the God of Tricks?" Tony reminded.

"Aye, but my brother could take on any appearance he wants. Why would he chose one so close to his own, so that we might find him? It does not make sense."

"He does give off a different... aura than Loki," Steve conceded, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Alright, well... I'll go radio Fury, then... I guess," Tony said awkwardly.

"C'mon, let's go tell Bruce that things are good here," Steve suggested, "Sorry for the trouble, Tom."

"Go ahead, I would like a moment with... Tom."

After Steve and Tony had left, Thor turned to Tom, still tensed with phone in hand.

"I would like to offer you my most sincere apology, Tom. My friends and I jumped to conclusions, I'm afraid."

"Eheh..." Tom laughed weakly, "It's... alright, I suppose. No harm done."

Thor bowed and turned to leave, but Tom spoke again.

"You're looking for your brother?"

"Indeed, I am."

"Is he... lost?" Tom asked curiously, setting the phone back in its cradle.

Thor flopped down in one of the booths, and cradled his head in his hands, "Aye, as lost as a soul can be. Lost in rage and sadness. Lost in his own head. I am afraid that he shall never be found again."

"Well... Life has a way of sending us rain right when we most want the sun to shine," Tom said, "But, sometimes, you find out that the rain was what you needed all along."

A tear rolled down Thor's cheek.

"H-Hey, don't cry!" Tom said in alarm, "Um, um, do you want a drink?"

Thor accepted the soda that Tom offered him, but another tear escaped, "You must forgive me. You say such kind words from lips and with a voice that look and sound so very much like my brother. It makes me long for the days when we could speak as friends."

"Well, I don't have any brothers, but I have two sisters," said Tom, "And I know that siblings tend to... project their anger onto one another. Anger at their parents, the world, and even at themselves gets redirected to them, because they know that even when they're horrible to one another, their family will never abandon them. The fact that you're out here, looking for him... I'm sure that your brother will come around... in time."

"You are a wise man, Tom," said Thor. "Wiser than your... environment would suggest."

"Ah, well," Tom returned to cleaning the table, "That's a good example of the 'life sends us rain' bit. I'm an actor, you see. Came down here for a part playing the young version of a well-known super-villain in a movie. So, I come all the way down here, only to find out that they gave my part away to Michael-fucking-Fassbender."

Thor sipped his soda, not quiet understanding.

"They said I wasn't menacing enough," Tom continued, "I can _so_ be menacing!"

"With my brother's face, I have no doubt."

"Thank you! Unfortunately, I already spent my paycheck. So, here I am, bussing tables in _non-refundable_ designer jeans." He sighed, then brightened, "But, I am confident that something good is going to come out of this. You just wait and see."

Thor laughed. It felt good to laugh. "I will count on it, friend!"

"Thor, where are you?" Steve's voice came through Thor's headset. Thor flinched, forgetting about the device, and Tom frowned at the movement.

"I must go now," Thor said with regret, "But thank you for your great kindness."

"Sure, any time," Tom smiled.

Just as Thor was pushing open the doors of the diner, Tom called after him.

"Remember to keep believing in your brother! As long as you believe in him, there's always a chance he can come home."

"I will remember, my friend! Farewell!"

"Farewell, Thor."

* * *

On the quinjet ride back to the Helicarrier, Steve and Tony bantered as they always did. Thor listened with amusement, until a sudden thought occurred to him...

He had never told Tom his name.

* * *

Back at the diner, 'Tom' flipped the switch for the fluorescent 'Open' sign in the window to turn off. Slowly, his light brown hair darkened and lengthened. His gray-blue eyes shifted to striking green.

Loki turned his gaze through the window to the sky, where the humans' ridiculous flying machine was making its way back to him. Thor had realized sooner than expected.

A small, but genuine smile tugged at Loki lips, and he repeated quietly, "'There's always a chance he can come home.'"

Then, in a puff of gray-green smoke, he was gone.


End file.
